Netherlands bans flavourings in vaping products

Following the adoption of a government amendment published in the official journal, the State current, the Netherlands will ban all flavours for e-cigarettes, except tobacco flavour, from 1^er October 2023. The ban covers all vaping products, whether disposable, pod-based, or refillable with liquid.

The ban announced in 2020 will also include provisions relating to product packaging. The latter will no longer be able to affix descriptions relating to aromas other than tobacco flavor. Brand names and trade names are included in this measure.

A measure to protect young people

From 1^er October 2023, stores will only be able to sell tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes or refills. The sweeter flavors that health experts say have encouraged young people to get into the habit of vaping will have to be gone. The public health institute RIVM has drawn up a list of 16 ingredients that manufacturers can use to make tobacco flavors. According to the RIVM, about a quarter of current tobacco flavors can be made with this list of ingredients.

In addition, vaping product packaging will no longer be able to use visuals or terms that suggest that the product contains any fragrance or flavor other than tobacco. This includes the many positive flavor statements that currently appear on packaging. For Esther Croes, a researcher at the Trimbos Institute, this ban is essential to protect young people from being introduced to vaping products. She adds that the idea that vaping helps smokers quit cigarettes is largely a myth. Research shows that only a few benefit and that most smokers are dual smokers, leading to additional health risks. ".

Research indicates that only 1.4% of Dutch adults regularly use an e-cigarette, but one in five adults still smoke tobacco.

A coherent set of measures to achieve a tobacco-free generation

The Netherlands is implementing a series of measures integrated into a comprehensive strategy to reduce tobacco prevalence with a view to achieving a tobacco-free generation by 2040. The country has also moved from 14th to 4th place (just behind France)[1] in the ranking of European countries in the recently published "Tobacco Control Scale" 2021. This positive development is the result of the large number of measures implemented over the last two years. At the beginning of 2021[2] the removal of tobacco and vaping product stalls within points of sale came into force. At the same time, the country committed to reducing the number of tobacco product points of sale by ending the sale of these products in supermarkets and petrol stations by 2024. The country has also imposed plain packaging for all tobacco and nicotine products since 1 January 2022, including for mini-cigarette packages of heated tobacco. Finally, the Netherlands is considering drastically increasing tobacco taxes and raising the price of a packet of cigarettes to €47 by 2040[3].

Bans are spreading across the world

The Netherlands will be the second country in the European Union to ban flavourings for vaping products. By the end of 2020, Denmark[4] had adopted one of the strictest regulations in the world by banning flavors other than tobacco and menthol for vaping products. This was combined with a complete ban on advertising for all these products. Since April 2022, vaping products have also been sold in plain packaging.

Several other countries around the world (particularly in South America and Asia) have decided to completely ban vaping products.

WHO calls for vigilance around these new products and recommends strengthening existing regulations on these products in order to limit as much as possible their use by young people and to strengthen the application of regulations against advertising, the development of sales and illicit trade in these products.

Keywords: Netherlands, Flavors, vaping, ban, tobacco-free generation, flavors, e-cigarette

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Generation without tobacco, Ireland, UK and France on the podium of the tobacco control scale in 2021, published on December 2, 2022, consulted on December 5, 2022[2] Generation without tobacco, Netherlands: entry into force of the removal of tobacco product stalls, published on January 22, 2021, consulted on December 5, 2022[3] Generation without tobacco, Netherlands plans to raise price of cigarette packet to €47 by 2040, published June 7, 2022, accessed December 5, 2022[4] Tobacco-free generation, Denmark wants to ban the sale of nicotine products to anyone born after 2010, published on March 18, 2022, consulted on December 5, 2022National Committee Against Smoking |